Channel migrant crisis hits new milestone as Shabana Mahmood considers changes | Politics | News
The number of migrants crossing the Channel on Remembrance Sunday exceeded 39,000; It turned out that 14 areas could be used to accommodate refugees.
At least 300 people are feared to pass through on Sunday, meaning at least 2,000 people have been spotted on small boats since Thursday.
Smugglers are taking advantage of better conditions after nearly two weeks of high winds.
According to a leaked document, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is examining 14 regions across the country that could accommodate 10,000 refugees.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood is expected to overhaul the asylum system and possibly copy policies adopted by the Danish Government.
Authorities are understood to be looking at Denmark’s stricter rules on family reunification, restricting most refugees from staying in the country temporarily.
Mahmood wants to make it easier to deport those who have no right to be in the country, while reducing the incentives that attract people to the UK.
In Denmark, refugees who are personal targets of a foreign regime will likely be granted protection.
But most people who successfully gained asylum while fleeing conflict are now only allowed to stay in the country temporarily.
They can be sent back once the Danish government decides their country is safe.
For those who have been in Denmark longer, the time required to obtain settlement rights has been extended and conditions such as full-time employment have been added.
Denmark’s stricter rules on family reunification have also attracted the attention of UK Home Office officials.
Ms Mahmood wants deterrent measures to stop people trying to enter the country unauthorized and to make it easier to deport those found to have no right to remain in the UK.
Sources said he was keen to meet his Danish counterpart Rasmus Stoklund, Denmark’s immigration minister and a member of the Social Democrats, as soon as possible.
Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome, a member of the party’s Socialist Campaign Group, called for the Danish model not to be imitated, claiming it was “far right”.
“I think it’s the policies of the far right. I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labor government flirting with them,” he said.
While the worker is trying to close immigrant hotels, he is also investigating 14 regions for the accommodation of asylum seekers.
Two locations have already been announced: Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex.
And hundreds of locals in Crowborough, East Sussex, took to the streets to protest the policy.
Speaking to GB News at the demonstration, local Ben Grant said: “We fundamentally feel let down by the Government.
“We are a small town of 20,000 people. We will be flooded with at least 600 undocumented men with nothing to do.
“We went to the council meeting and it was very clear that the Government was not looking out for our best interests.”
Conservative Sussex Weald MP Nus Ghani said: “We have a duty to look after the students who were there too, but Home Office officials didn’t even care and the council didn’t raise it as an issue. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
Angus MacDonald, MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, described the barracks as “not a suitable place to house large numbers of migrants”.
“Cameron Barracks is surrounded by housing and is only a ten-minute walk from the main street. It is protected only by a modest fence,” the MP added.
